Paul Varghese: The Sky Is My Hood

Paul Varghese: The Sky Is My Hood

Last time I flew I actually had a guy tap me on my shoulder and he yelled at me. He told me to turn my iPod off 'cause it was too loud, yelled at me in front of all the passengers. I turned around -- it was a black guy. He's doing that thing that some black guys have done to me in the past: they think that because I'm not black they can be aggressive and yell at me, and I'll be scared and intimidated and back off. But I wasn't scared, I didn't back off. You know why? Black guys are intimidating on the ground, and I'm brown and I'm on a plane. This is where I intimidate. Like the sky is my hood.